RADICAL REALIST

As a female founder, it’s not unusual to find that you are the only woman in the room. Encountering persistent gender bias can be disorienting, so I wanted to share some tips and tricks that my co-founder Dr Amy Davis and I have learned as entrepreneurs to help you thrive as female founders in a male-dominated industry.

Amy and I co-founded our health technology company, Hexarad, along with our two other co-founders when we were both still working as radiologists in the NHS. We had all got tired of seeing that no matter how hard we worked, patients were not receiving their diagnoses quickly enough, and we believed that we could develop technology to transform how radiology works. Now, our radiology technology platform is used by NHS Trusts across the UK and Hexarad is one of the UK’s fastest growing healthtech companies. We have been able to grow Hexarad through a mix of bootstrapping, a joint venture partnership with our first customer, and private equity and angel investment.

Here are some of the ways that Amy and I have found to deal with gender bias and succeed as female founders.

1. Don’t fear rejection

Studies have shown that male and female entrepreneurs tend to perceive failure differently, with women more likely than men to be set back by negative feedback. Rejection is simply part of the process.

I learnt a valuable lesson when I was applying for medical jobs and didn’t get a surgical role I thought I was a great candidate for. I was devastated and it really hit my confidence. But in retrospect, it was the best thing to happen to me as I took stock of what I really wanted to do and started exploring radiology, which I realized would be a better fit. But, the real reason that it was the best thing to happen to me wasn’t because I ended up getting a radiology job (and co-founding a radiology company); it was because I lost my fear of rejection and had the confidence to put myself out there more.

Whether that’s doing your first investment round, trying to sign your first customer, or trying to hire your first key personnel, you’re going to hear a lot of “no” and that’s okay. Developing the confidence to overcome rejection and find the people who will believe in and support you is key.

2. Develop your support network

The entrepreneurial journey is often a lonely one, so don’t make yourself more isolated than you need to. Amy and I have surrounded ourselves with people who support us, both within our business and outside it. It’s amazing how much confidence you have when you’re backed by people who believe in you and your mission.

My co-founders are the people I speak to most often outside my family. They are continual sources of support and give me the confidence that lets me thrive as a founder and CEO. We are also part of a fantastic community of female founders who are entrepreneurs and trailblazers in their fields, and their wisdom and advice has given us confidence in our vision and allowed us to discuss doubts or mistakes we’ve made. It has been valuable to have somewhere where we can ask candid questions and be vulnerable, but also where we can network and make connections with interesting people, some of whom have become mentors or future customers.

3. Believe in your mission

The most important thing for any entrepreneur is to know your market and the problem you want to solve as well as you can. This will allow you to come up with solutions, which can be adapted and developed as time goes on. It can be great to speak to other people and get feedback on your ideas, but you need to have faith that your idea is the way forward. Take the useful advice but don’t let feedback, especially from those who don’t understand your industry well, dishearten you.

Sometimes the most meaningful and helpful feedback isn’t about your ideas or product. I was once given some very honest feedback that I am impatient, and I have found it helpful to remember this if I’m getting frustrated, and ask myself whether I have realistic expectations. It’s also nice sometimes to remember that your feedback can be helpful to others – I recently bumped into someone I first met a decade ago, and they told me I had helped mentor them to get the job they wanted. It really gave me a boost to know that my feedback had helped someone to achieve their ambition and was a great reminder of the importance and community and supporting each other.

Dr Farzana Rahman, BSc, MBBS, MSc, FRCR, is the CEO and Co-Founder of the radiology technology company Hexarad. Hexarad provides technology-driven solutions to boost radiology capacity and address the key causes of diagnostic delays.